39 Easy Cake Recipes Anyone Can Make

Some days you want to bake a cake, and some days you want a cake to exist with as little effort as humanly possible. This list is sorted for the second kind of day.

I’ve pulled together the 39 easy cake recipes I actually make, and I’ve organized them by how much work they take — starting with the three-ingredient dump cakes you genuinely cannot mess up, then poke cakes, then doctored cake mixes, then the simple from-scratch ones for when you have a little more time.

Every one of them has been made in my kitchen more times than I can count. Start at the top if you’re in a hurry, and work down as you get more ambitious!

You can also check out my How to Bake a Cake post for all my tips and tricks for a perfect homemade cake every time!

3-Ingredient Dump Cakes

If you want the easiest cake on this page, it’s here. A dump cake is exactly what it sounds like — pie filling in the pan, dry cake mix over the top, butter over that, and into the oven. No mixing bowl, no mixer, nothing to measure. Three ingredients and about five minutes of work.

Chocolate Dump Cake

Chocolate lovers rejoice! This chocolate dump cake is so delicious and also extremely easy to make. It is a total winner!

Apple Dump Cake

Never underestimate the dump cake! Here is an Apple Dump Cake that is so easy to pull together for those last-minute guests who come with little notice. Whip this up and have a sweet treat to slice up and serve while you visit.

Peach Dump Cake

Dump cakes are the best and the fresh sweet peach flavor in this Peach Dump Cake will have your taste buds dancing with love! Top with a little bit of whipped cream and that’s all you need.

Strawberry Dump Cake

Calling all strawberry fans! You’re going to love how moist this Strawberry Dump Cake is! It’s one of the easiest cakes to make for feeding a crowd. One of my favorite summertime cakes.

Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake

This Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake is the most delicious and easy dump cake recipe you’ll ever try! Made with only 4-ingredients – just dump all the ingredients into a baking pan, bake and eat!

Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake

Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake is cherry pie filling is topped with devil’s food cake mix and butter for a sweet treat that’s one part cake, one part cobbler, and two parts irresistible.

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Pumpkin Dump Cake is one more recipe that is one you need to add to the list. Canned pumpkin gives this cake a really moist and creamy texture, add a dollop of whipped topping and you have a cake perfect for holiday parties.

Easy Poke Cakes

Poke cakes are my favorite trick for making a simple cake look and taste like a lot more than it is. Bake the cake, poke holes across the top, pour something sweet into them, and finish with whipped topping. They’re better made ahead, which makes them ideal for a party

Boston Cream Poke Cake

This Boston Cream Poke Cake Recipe is easy to make with a yellow cake mix and filled with pudding and topped with a chocolate frosting. The homemade filling is the perfect surprise addition! (You’ll also love this Boston cream cake made with cake mix!)

Oreo Poke Cake

A chocolate box cake mix is doctored up with a few simple ingredients and then topped with Oreo pudding, whipped topping, and Oreo cookies for the ultimate easy cake recipe in this Oreo Poke Cake.

Heath Bar Cake

This Heath Cake recipe is so easy to make. A moist chocolate cake topped with whipped topping, and little crumbles of Heath candy bars for the toffee crunch.

Snickers Poke Cake

If you love the flavor of Snickers, don’t miss out on this Snickers Poke Cake. Being able to have that candy bar flavor with cake literally the best!

Strawberry Jello Poke Cake

Use that Jello mix that’s been taking up room in your cabinet and add it to this cake mixture! This poke cake with jello mix is a fast and easy dessert with loads of flavor. Don’t miss out on this Strawberry Jello Poke Cake.

Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Love the thought of a pudding cake? Use a pudding mix and make this Banana Pudding Poke Cake! So much delicious banana flavor!

Coconut Cream Cake

This vintage cake – Coconut Cream Cake – uses a box cake mix as the base – to keep it easy! It is then filled with cream of coconut and topped with Cool Whip and sweetened shredded coconut.

Easy Cakes That Start With Cake Mix

A box of cake mix is a head start, not a shortcut you have to apologize for. Every cake in this section starts with a mix and then gets doctored — pudding, sour cream, an extra egg, a glaze — until nobody at the table would ever guess.

Easy Lemon Sheet Cake

This Lemon Sheet Cake is actually made with a box cake mix ! You would never believe such a delicious, easy cake would start with a box. But don’t worry, I have doctored it up so it tastes homemade and amazing.

Crack Cake

You need to make this crack cake. One bite and you’ll 100% understand the name. It is completely addicting in a very good way.

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake

Ooey Gooey Butter Cake! This sweet treat made from a box cake mix is a classic dessert made popular by Paula Deen but originated in St. Louis – made with just a few ingredients, it’s one of the easiest cake recipes around!

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake is one of my family’s favorites, especially around the holidays and fall season. This is like a layer cake that is absolutely sweet, gooey, and melt in your mouth delicious.

Pound Cake from Cake Mix

Did you ever have Sara Lee pound cake growing up? Though it comes in a package, I still have nostalgia for it! But, I really love a fresh pound cake. And while a from-scratch pound cake is great, using a cake mix makes things so easy, all while keeping that homemade, fresh-baked taste with this Pound Cake From A Box Cake Mix!

7UP Cake

Grab that bottle of 7Up and make a 7Up Cake that is light, airy, and is made with a boxed cake mix. No one will ever know you dress up the boxed cake mix so well it tastes homemade.

Dr. Pepper Cherry Cola Cake

Dr. Pepper Cherry Cola cake is a classic one to make. We make this so often because the can of Cherry Dr. Pepper really adds a nice element of lightness to the cake that can’t be found without it.

Coconut Tres Leches Cake

The coconut flavoring is strong and wonderful in this Coconut Tres Leches Cake. It has so many complex flavors while being easy and simple to make.

Easy Cakes From Scratch

These take a bowl and a mixer, but not much more than that. If you’ve got a little more time — or you just want the satisfaction of making it all yourself — start here.

Strawberry Shortcake Made with Pound Cake

This is my favorite way to make strawberry shortcake. The pound cake is super easy to make and makes the dessert hearty and perfectly sweet!

Chocolate Cake

You can never go wrong with a chocolate cake! This rich, delicious cake is one that I make all the time. I could eat it every day!

Banana Cake

This Homemade Old Fashioned Banana Cake Recipe is the most flavorful moist cake that is topped with an easy cream cheese frosting. The perfect way to use up overripe bananas!

Portillo’s Chocolate Cake

This copycat recipe for Portillo’s chocolate cake is so easy to make, you’ll wonder why you’ve been buying it all these years! It’s decadent, chocolaty, and has a secret ingredient to make it rich and moist.

Hummingbird Cake

Have you ever had a Hummingbird Cake? This cake has pineapple, bananas, spices, nuts, and more that is layered in a cream cheese frosting. A really traditional cake recipe.

Rainbow Layer Cake

This Rainbow Layer Cake is a wonderful birthday cake idea. Each layer is a bright and bold color that is layered with creamy and flavorful frosting. Slice into it for a delicious cake that will win over kids everywhere.

Peanut Butter Cake

This homemade peanut butter cake is the perfect combination of two favorites: cake and peanut butter. The rich, creamy peanut butter is baked directly into the cake layer and in the frosting too, creating a dense yet moist treat that is sure to please peanut butter lovers. 

Blueberry Bundt Cake

You’re going to love the flavor of this Blueberry Bundt Cake. It’s such a great summertime cake to whip up and share with all your family and friends!

Crescent Roll Cheesecake

Crescent Roll Cheesecake is so easy! This recipe replaces the graham cracker crust with buttery crescent rolls. Not only is there one layer of crescent rolls as the base of this cheesecake, but there is a second layer of flaky dough on top of the cheesecake. 

Tiramisu Cake

The flavor of this Tiramisu Cake is one that you’re not going to want to miss out on!

Lemon Pound Cake

You’ll love having a slice of this Lemon Pound Cake Recipe! Perfect for brunch!

Easy Cupcakes

Cupcakes solve the two hardest parts of cake: no layering, no slicing. They bake in twenty minutes and travel better than anything else on this list.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

You have never had the Best Red Velvet Cupcakes unless you have tried my recipe. These look like a bakery and taste even better than they look. Light, fluffy, and the perfect red velvet flavor paired with frosting in each bite.

Coconut Cream Cupcakes

Here you have Coconut Cream Cupcakes, with the perfect amount of flaked coconut on top. Each bite is a sweetness that soothes your sweet tooth. You use a boxed cake mix for this recipe as well, and then dress it up to transform the flavors.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Calling all carrot cake lovers! Here is a Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting that is the spiced up with flavor, and is perfect for any bake sale, birthday party, or treats for after school.

S’Mores Cupcakes

S’mores Cupcakes are the perfect summertime treat. Not only can they be enjoyed without setting up a campfire, but they’re addictive in taste as well.

Lemon Drop Cupcakes

Lemon Drop Cupcakes give you that citrus tang paired with the right amount of sweetness. These lemon cupcakes are a must have summer and spring cupcake for gatherings.

Pumpkin Cupcake

Nothing beats a good Pumpkin Cupcake, add on a pumpkin spice cream cheese frosting and watch these go from outstanding to irresistibly good.

My Best Tips for Easy Cakes

• Room-temperature ingredients matter more than anything else. Cold eggs and cold butter won’t emulsify, and that’s the difference between a tender crumb and a dense one. Twenty minutes on the counter is usually enough.

• Don’t overmix. Once the flour goes in, mix until it just disappears. Overworked batter builds gluten, and gluten in a cake means rubbery.

• Grease and flour, or use parchment. More easy cakes are ruined at the turn-out than in the oven. For a bundt pan, be thorough — every crevice.

• Check early. Start testing five minutes before the recipe says. Ovens run hot and a dry cake can’t be undone.

• Let it cool completely before frosting. Frosting a warm cake gives you a puddle. If you’re rushing, thirty minutes in the fridge works.

• Doctor a box mix with what you have. Swap the water for milk, the oil for melted butter, add an extra egg, or stir in a box of instant pudding. Any one of those makes a mix taste homemade.

That’s 39 cakes, sorted from “five minutes and three ingredients” up to “I have an afternoon.” Whichever one you start with, leave a star rating and a comment — I read every one, and it helps other readers know which to make next.

Which cake are you making first?

More Easy Desserts

No Bake Desserts

No Bake Cookies (Without Peanut Butter)

No Bake Desserts

Easy Philadelphia No Bake Cheesecake

All Recipes

Oreo Fluff Dessert

All Recipes

Snickers Salad